Language metadata

Inuktitut is the collective name for the dialects of Inuit (Eastern Eskimo) spoken on the northern coast of Canada, from the Mackenzie Delta in the west to Labrador in the east. The dialects of Western Canadian Inuktitut are usually distinguished from Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, the boundary falling between the Central Arctic coast and Baffin Island, but there is no sharp discontinuity. All of the Inuktitut speakers of the newly formed territory of Nunavut, which encompasses dialects belonging to both the Western and Eastern divisions, can understand one another’s speech.

Vulnerable

40 percent certain, based on the evidence available

~30,000

Native speakers worldwide

MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS

Inuktitut is the collective name for the dialects of Inuit (Eastern Eskimo) spoken on the northern coast of Canada, from the Mackenzie Delta in the west to Labrador in the east. (It is also sometimes used for Eastern Eskimo dialects in general, synonymous with Inuit.) The dialects of Western Canadian Inuktitut are usually distinguished from Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, the boundary falling between the Central Arctic coast and Baffin Island, but there is no sharp discontinuity. All of the Inuktitut speakers of the newly formed territory of Nunavut, whichencompasses dialects belonging to both the Western and Eastern divisions, can understand one another’s speech. The Inuktitut population in Canada is about 31,000, a high proportion being speakers. In the 1996 Canadian census 26,960 people indicated Inuktitut was their first language, 18,495 of them in the Northwest Territories (and Nunavut) and 7,685 in Québec.

SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS

MORE ON VITALITY

The Inuktitut population in Canada is about 31,000, a high proportion being speakers. I

PLACES

Canada;

LOCATION DESCRIPTION

Inuktitut is the collective name for the dialects of Inuit (Eastern Eskimo) spoken on the northern coast of Canada, from the Mackenzie Delta in the west to Labrador in the east. (It is also sometimes used for Eastern Eskimo dialects in general, synonymous with Inuit.) The dialects of Western Canadian Inuktitut are usually distinguished from Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, the boundary falling between the Central Arctic coast and Baffin Island, but there is no sharp discontinuity. All of the Inuktitut speakers of the newly formed territory of Nunavut, whichencompasses dialects belonging to both the Western and Eastern divisions, can understand one another’s speech.

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

26,960

Native speakers worldwide

Ethnic population

31,000

MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS

The Inuktitut population in Canada is about 31,000, a high proportion being speakers. In the 1996 Canadian census 26,960 people indicated Inuktitut was their first language, 18,495 of them in the Northwest Territories (and Nunavut) and 7,685 in Quebec.

DATE OF INFO

1996

LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS

Since the establishment of Nunavut as a preponderantly aboriginal territory within Canada in 1999, Inuktitut has enjoyed official status in that jurisdiction. It is government policy to insure that Inuktitut is used in all public offices and is taught from grades K to 12 in all Nunavut schools. The government of Nunavut also offers Inuktitut language classes to new employees from other parts of the country.

More on Orthography

A syllabic writing system, introduced by Anglican missionaries in the late nineteenth century and modeled on the syllabary earlier developed for Cree, is now the preferred writing of Inuktitut in much of the central Canadian area, with a roman orthography in common use only in Labrador and from Cambridge Bay westward. In Nunavut, the Inuinnaqtun dialect of the western Kitikmeot region is written in a roman orthography, while in the rest of the territory syllabics are used, and this distinction more than phonological or lexical dialect differences is the principal obstacle to standardization.

The Inuktitut population in Canada is about 31,000, a high proportion being speakers. In the 1996 Canadian census 26,960 people indicated Inuktitut was their first language, 18,495 of them in the Northwest Territories (and Nunavut) and 7,685 in Quebec.

Since the establishment of Nunavut as a preponderantly aboriginal territory within Canada in 1999, Inuktitut has enjoyed official status in that jurisdiction. It is government policy to insure that Inuktitut is used in all public offices and is taught from grades K to 12 in all Nunavut schools. The government of Nunavut also offers Inuktitut language classes to new employees from other parts of the country.

Vulnerable (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)

Canada;

0199255911

2005

The World Atlas of Language Structures

Bernard Comrie and David Gil and Martin Haspelmath and Matthew S. Dryer

Oxford University Press

New York

2005. "The World Atlas of Language Structures." edited by Bernard Comrie et al. Oxford University Press.

Inuktitut is the collective name for the dialects of Inuit (Eastern Eskimo) spoken on the northern coast of Canada, from the Mackenzie Delta in the west to Labrador in the east. (It is also sometimes used for Eastern Eskimo dialects in general, synonymous with Inuit.) The dialects of Western Canadian Inuktitut are usually distinguished from Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, the boundary falling between the Central Arctic coast and Baffin Island, but there is no sharp discontinuity. All of the Inuktitut speakers of the newly formed territory of Nunavut, which
encompasses dialects belonging to both the Western and Eastern divisions, can understand one another’s speech. The Inuktitut population in Canada is about 31,000, a high proportion being speakers. In the 1996 Canadian census 26,960 people indicated Inuktitut was their first language, 18,495 of them in the Northwest Territories (and Nunavut) and 7,685 in Québec.

Vulnerable (40 percent certain, based on the evidence available)

The Inuktitut population in Canada is about 31,000, a high proportion being speakers. I

11

Canada;

Inuktitut is the collective name for the dialects of Inuit (Eastern Eskimo) spoken on the northern coast of Canada, from the Mackenzie Delta in the west to Labrador in the east. (It is also sometimes used for Eastern Eskimo dialects in general, synonymous with Inuit.) The dialects of Western Canadian Inuktitut are usually distinguished from Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, the boundary falling between the Central Arctic coast and Baffin Island, but there is no sharp discontinuity. All of the Inuktitut speakers of the newly formed territory of Nunavut, which
encompasses dialects belonging to both the Western and Eastern divisions, can understand one another’s speech.